Bledek places a high value upon students taking notes during class and maintaining a notebook. This is very important and is a unique part of our art. Notebooks are the record of a student’s journey in the martial arts. This is important no matter the teacher or the training.
This record is important for a student’s future reference, even if there’s not a real understanding of what is being taught. That early series of notes may become important for better understanding in the years to come.
If you consider yourself a serious student, then you will be taking notes, and keeping them.
Every serious student’s notebook is an amazing document in its own right. Bledek advancement requires the student present their notebook for an instructor’s review.
Seeing a record of how each individual records their understanding is really a great reminder to instructors that a journey in the art is a very unique experience for everyone. When an instructor is reviewing a student’s notebook, the point is not to see if it’s “correct”.
It’s to serve as a gauge of a student’s progress, commitment and understanding.
Handouts:
Some people might consider that notebooks are mainly repositories for “collecting” an instructor’s notes. A more serious student will quickly realize that the greater value in keeping a notebook is not just to record other people’s thoughts–they are collect your own thoughts. Your own insights and connections.
If all a notebook contains are collections of handouts, (in other words, if it only contains the notes of others), then that is all that’s happening–collecting.
Guy
Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A.
I still make my notes with old-school pencil and paper because I often draw pictures or diagrams. Eventually, I started scanning my notes to create a digital copy for posterity; then I discovered “Rocketbook” which uses an app on my smartphone to create a clear PDF of my written/drawn notes. There are other, similar solutions out there for turning hand-written notes into digital records or for drawing and diagraming by hand in digital formats. No excuses for not keeping a notebook.